Rapports et documents de politique

Multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) are increasingly referred to within trade agreements. The range of MEAs cited in trade agreements is also expanding.

MEAs within trade agreements are referred to for different reasons, including to provide contextual information for interpretative purposes, to determine hierarchy between agreements, to promote the ratification of MEAs or to demand their implementation

Using data obtained from the Trade and Environment Database (TREND), this policy brief shows that the practice of referencing MEAs in trade agreements creates significant political and legal opportunities for enhanced MEA effectiveness.

The European Union is a pioneer in terms of integrating climate issues into trade negotiations. It is the actor that includes the greatest number and range of provisions related climate change in its trade agreements.However, the EU model does not seem to be inspiring other actors in the trade system. Despite the recent proliferation of trade agreements and the exponential increase in provisions relating to the environment in these agreements, few countries are taking inspiration from EU standards.In order to foster an integrated approach to climate change, it would be useful to reproduce on a broader scale the small number of existing climate provisions, and to innovate based on progress made for other environmental issues.